“Wise men say only fools rush in But I can’t help falling in love with” Moon! I tell ya, that fool called Time sure rushes too. I mean, it feels like Autumnal Equinox was just yesterday. Wait a second… it was! But that was then and this is, well there’s truly only the moment now, you know? And so it is… the Libra Moonth begins merely two thirds of a day after that most magical Equinox Alignment of our Earth’s axial spine initiated this new season called autumn. And what else is this season called? Oh right… Fall. The leaves are falling, the rain is falling, and I can’t help falling in love with… Who?... well, whoever is ready to love me back, of course. Wouldn’t it be a sin to spend another cold winter without another to keep me warm? “Shall I stay? Would it be a sin? If I can’t help falling in love with you?” Would it be a sin indeed? Where do we even begin with that one… okay… with the greed of need. But better to begin at the beginning, you see? It’s where all good stories start, no doubt. And the tale of this Libra Moonth begins right now! That’s September 23rd at 11:13pm in Seattle as my fingers dance to the drumming of this Fall’s first rainfall. Oh, the falling waters of the heart. “As a river flows gently to the sea Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be Take my hand, take my whole life too For I can’t help falling in love with you” Wait just a second now! Hold your horses, cowpoke! “Take my whole life too???” Careful with those contracts, Jack! Don’t we remember what happened last time Jack rushed up that hill to fetch a pail of water? Well, the truth is that Jill did indeed come tumbling after. But how long did that couples’ dance last, y’all? Perhaps this time it would be more wise to answer the call of the rise, rather than that of the fall. And so we raise a cup full of intentions to purge the shadow and anchor the light of that which Libra loves most… Love! It’s time to play the Moon Game and participate Below with the mysteries Above. It’s time to release past pains to pave some way for a brighter day, regardless of the rain. Libra is an Air Sign of Intellect, but Libra consciousness is rather different than that of the Gemini truth pursuit or the Aquarian revolution. Libra has his mind on his honey and her honey on her mind because Libra is the Sign and the wit of balanced Relationship. Shamanic Astrology classifies these season-initiating archetypes of Libra, Capricorn, Aries, and Cancer that the past paradigms call Cardinal as Tradition Keepers and Householders, but I like to call them Service to Others for I feel that description best completes the Trinity with the Mutable Signs we call Service to Spirit and the Fixed Signs we call Service to Self Growth. Perhaps Libra would better be termed Service to Other for it is the Sign of the Partner. Libra’s intent is to anchor the light of equality through the pursuit of balanced and harmonic relationship. Libra keeps the peace through the spoken art of diplomacy. It is the Round Table honoring others’ opinions as much as we honor our own. Libra has a finger on the pulse of group morale and consensus reality. Equality, Justice, Peace, Harmony. The Scales of Libra seek Balance in every way: in that of Yin Feminine and Yang Masculine, Dark and Light, Day and Night (as Equinox assures), Earthly and Celestial, Body and Mind, Speaking and Listening, Giving and Receiving, etc., etc. Wait, did I mention balance in giving and receiving? Here’s one more… balance in giving and receiving! If Balance is the Light of Libra, what is the Shadow? Well, Unbalance of course. The Scales lose equilibrium when we give ourselves away. When we lose ourselves to relationship, surely the relationship is lost. And at what cost?... us! Fools rush in! The Scales lose equilibrium when we honor others options more than we honor our own by collapsing into conformity. The Scales lose equilibrium when we decide the deed of diplomacy means muting our own truth to keep some false sense of peace. The Scales lose equilibrium when we believe we honor others through the artless art of indifference; when we need to see other hands in the air before we can find the courage to cast our own vote. “What do you want for dinner, honey?”… “Whatever you want, dear.” What kind of answer is that? Certainly, not one of Libra Light. What is it that we have foolishly rushed into? To whom or to what have you given you? A father, a teacher, a preacher, or guru? A mother, a brother, a boss, or a crew? A leader, or needer, an illness, or pill? We find Free Will when we Free Our Will! And this is the week to set Libra Moon Game intentions that will guide our release from the false prisons of pretend peace. Let the Game begin! Yin Moon meets Yang Sun tonight at 01.08 Libra. I’d love to speak all about the many incredible astrological aspects I’ve highlighted on this New Moon chart but let’s not get lost in the astrobabble. For now, I’d just like to honor the other current Planets, Planetoids, and Points in Libra tonight. The North Node, which speaks to the forward direction of our collective soul is now in Libra. It has been since 2/18/14 and will be until 11/11/15. This is a time for us all to be investigating balanced relationship, which makes this Moonth’s Game extra important. Tonight, the Asteroid Pallas Athena Conjuncts the North Node. She is the warrior Goddess of strategy and wisdom, born from the crown of Zeus fully clad in bronze armor. Mercury is also in Libra today, but will ingress into Scorpio before the First Quarter Moon only to Retrograde back into Libra to finish this Moonth Conjunct the North Node where Pallas Athena is today. I’m tempted to tell the tale of Perseus who freed Andromeda from her chains after freeing Medusa’s head from her neck with the help of Athena and Mercury. That’s a tale for another time, for tonight I’d like to sing the song of my Libra Goddess. Now many say Hera is the Libra Goddess because she was the one Olympian who choose marriage. She married her brother Zeus. We are told by the ways of old to pray to Hera in times of relationship distress, but when we read her stories, it’s hard to say why. Now, all praises to Hera as I’m sure her true stories have not been accurately preserved, but the ones that have paint her in anything but Libra Light. Her relationship with Zeus was anything but balanced because he was anything but a good husband to her (watch out for the Thunderbolt, Brett!). We are told that Hera spent most of her days torturing the many, many, many women Zeus pursued. Hera turned these objects of Zeus’ infidelity into pigs and cows or had dragons chase them out of town. So why should we pray to the Goddess of Crazy Codependence in times of relationship distress? No thank you, mam. No, my Libra Goddess is a Titaness named Themis who was a previous wife to Zeus. Now, he ate his first wife, Metis because a prophecy fortold their child she was pregnant with at the time would take his kingdom. That child was Pallas Athena who refused to die and, as I mentioned before, was born from his head. Themis was Zeus’ second wife, but they divorced. As I feel into the stories held within my cells, I feel it was her choice to leave. “You wanna sleep with everything that moves? Okay, that’s your thing. Do what you want to do. But now with my ring on your finger. I’m out!” Themis left Zeus in marriage, but stayed in court to be his wise advisor. “Themis was the Titan Goddess of Divine Law and Order. She was a prophetic Goddess who presided over the most ancient oracles, including Delphoi. She was the divine voice who first instructed humankind in the primal laws of justice and morality, such as the precepts of piety, the rules of hospitality, good governance, conduct of assembly, and pious offerings. In Greek, the word ‘themis’ referred to divine law, those rules of conduct long established by custom, unlike the word ‘nomos,’ the term was not usually used to describe laws of human decree.” (http://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisThemis.html) Now, that’s some serious Libra Light! And we’re told that Hera even tolerated Themis’ presence in the court of Olympus. Why? Because she was with Zeus before Hera was? Absolutely not! So was Leto and Hera had Python chase her out of town even though she was pregnant with Zeus’ twins Artemis and Apollo… the Goddess of the Moon and the God of the Sun… they were like a New Moon in the womb. No, I believe Hera tolerated Themis in the court because she had respect, maybe even envy, for Themis’ decision to walk away from an unbalanced relationship, the very thing Hera herself did not have the courage to do.

Themis and Zeus brought six daughters into the world. Three of them were called the Moirai, the Goddesses of Fate. Now I would say that the Fates represent Libra Shadow, for when we lose Free Will to the idea that our destinies have been predetermined, we lose ourselves. The Fact of Fate is not how I play with the Astrological Arts, by the way. Rather I use this celestial wisdom as a road map to consciously align myself to soul choices I have willfully made on a higher plane. The other three daughters of Themis and Zeus represent Libra Light. Collectively, they were called the Horai (the Goddesses of the Seasons), but individually as Eunomia, Eirene, and Dike. Eunomia means Rules, Eirene means Peace, and Dike means Justice. To me, Themis is the embodiment of all three. Now that’s some Libra right there! We all know the image of Dike as the blindfolded Goddess of Justice holding the Scales and Sword, but I feel that Themis, as Divine Law and Order, was Justice before it was blind. The Sword still makes sense because is an esoteric symbol for the intellect (Libra) and is sometimes necessary for us to cut through the nonsense and lies that shadow Libra Light. I’ll write more about the coming major Moon phases that bring Tension, Illumination, and Integration to our Libra Intentions, but for now it’s time to contemplate and voice my own so the last thing I’ll say now is this: there is an asteroid that astronomers call “24 Themis.” It is one of the largest main-belt asteroids and tonight, during the exact of alignment of Libra New Moon, 24 Themis spins at 26.04 Libra, just over one degree from a perfect Conjunction to Mercury. In other words, our collective Libra Mind is aligned to the Goddess who chose and represented Libra Light.

Themis, I can’t help falling in love with you!But I promise I won’t rush in.